Wireless infrastructure makes inroads.

A booming population and the 2002 Winter Olympics challenged Utah's transportation system employees.

Utah's Department of Transportation (UDOT) is responsible for providing a transportation system that is safe and reliable, and serves the needs of the public. The agency's Traffic Operations

Center (TOC) is based in Salt Lake City. Using advanced technologies--such as closed circuit cameras, weather sensors, ramp meters, pavement sensors, traffic speed/ volume sensors and variable message signs--UDOT's operators monitor traffic, detect problems and take actions necessary to protect the safety of Utah's drivers and return traffic flow to normal.

As population has increased, however, so has traffic congestion. With much preparation ahead for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, UDOT implemented Commuter-Link--an intelligent transportation system--to improve the safety and efficiency of transportation throughout the target area. The TOC is the nerve center of the computer-controlled system that uses technology to save lives, time and money. It is designed to monitor and manage traffic flow on and surface roads. After initial implementation, UDOT saw a large gap in its wireless communications.

Previously, in order to receive dispatch alerts, emergency personnel reached the Novell network with a TCP/IP or a "file services" connection via remote laptop. The existing software--unreliable and cumbersome--hindered response times to traffic emergencies. Address books for dispatching were not centralized, resulting in increased administrative costs and risks of inaccuracy. UDOT desired one centralized, Web-based system in order to disseminate easily the correct information to personnel in the field, as well as to avoid time-consuming account reconciliations.

The agency was referred to Emergin for a solution to streamline and automate its wireless messaging. Now, its WirelessOffice 3.0 has been integrated successfully into day-to-day operations, and has significantly expedited internal processes. The Web Messenger feature, in particular, allows teams to access and dispatch information via the Internet to mobile devices.

"Web Messenger makes life a lot easier," says Anthony Torres, TOC information systems manager. In the event of an emergency, department employees from different buildings and job responsibilities converge at the TOC. Prior to installing WirelessOffice, each group had its own messaging system and separate address books.

With the implementation, operators are able to facilitate real-time dispatch alerts to emergency personnel. CommuterLink operators click on an icon, choose a user, group or department from the address book, and notify the appropriate incident management team to seek assistance. In the event of serious situations, supervisors from the Utah Highway Patrol and other emergency services are also alerted via alphanumeric messages. The result is fewer delays due to accidents, and shorter delays when problems occur, such as accidents, stalled vehicles or serious traffic jams.

UDOT currently provides traveler information and traffic updates to the public via e-mail. Some people set their e-mail to automatically forward this information to their wireless devices. In the future, UDOT could choose to use WirelessOffice to dispatch this information directly to the public. (For example, "Tonight's closures: 10PM; I-15 SB 1000 N to 7200 S; est. reopening time: 6AM.")

"It's been a smooth ride since installation," says Torres. "We are definitely planning to expand upon the integration and use of this software."

WirelessOffice has contributed to CommuterLink's performance, a system that has increased speed 15%, and reduced the rate of freeway accidents by 20%, !freeway delay caused by accidents by 30% and traffic-signal stops and intersection delays by 20%.

In the event that two distinct groups !need to contact each other (e.g., cleanup crew and Utah Highway Patrol), they can access one another via the TOC address book intranet (e.g., truck dumps gravel, while cleanup crew brings plows and contacts a patrol car to follow along for safety purposes).

Dispatch time on alerts to emergency personnel by operators at the department has improved by 50%. Response times have gone down from an average time of two minutes to one minute--in some cases, three minutes to 30 seconds.

Centralized address books eliminated many hours of annual administration, and increased the accuracy of dispatching to appropriate personnel. Having a unified system means that the groups and subgroups are always up-to-date. Web-based messaging has allowed teams to access information over the Internet and opens opportunities for future applications in the system.

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